Forward Daniel Hamilton had 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as No. 19 Connecticut opened the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 74-60 victory over Michigan on Wednesday night at Imperial Arena in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Forward Shonn Miller and guard Rodney Purvis had 13 points each and guards Sam Cassell Jr. and Sterling Gibbs each contributed 11 as UConn (4-0) advanced to Thursday's semifinal round.

The Huskies will play Syracuse (4-0), an 83-70 first-round winner over North Carolina-Charlotte. Syracuse and UConn, longtime rivals in the old Big East Conference, haven't met since Feb. 13, 2013, when the Huskies won 66-58 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. It will be the 92nd meeting between the schools.

Guard Caris LeVert led Michigan (2-2) with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Guard Derrick Walton added 10 points.

UConn closed the first half with a 19-7 run in the final seven minutes to take a 36-22 lead at halftime. Cassell Jr. started the run with a 3-point shot that gave the Huskies a 17-15 lead with 6:59 remaining. Gibbs assisted on that basket and made a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give UConn a 14-point lead.

The UConn run began after LaVert went to the bench with two fouls with eight minutes left before halftime.

The Huskies made seven consecutive shots during that closing run. Michigan went cold and made only 2 of 15 from the field. Purvis and Hamilton led UConn, which shot 58 percent from the field in the first half, with nine points each.

The Wolverines opened early leads of 9-3 and 12-5 as the Huskies struggled with mistakes. At one point, UConn had six turnovers and five field goals.